It is common that electronic devices, such as video cameras, mobile phones and other embedded devices, use firmware to control the hardware of the device. Firmware is a type of software that provides control of devices and systems. The firmware needs to be upgraded from time to time, for example in order to add new features or correct errors.
During firmware upgrade, a process which may take several minutes, the operation of the device is typically interrupted. This may in some situations be highly undesirable, for example when there is a need for the electronic device to provide a round-the-clock service. Such a situation may for instance occur with respect to video cameras which are used for surveillance purposes, electronic devices being used in an access system, or mobile phones.
A related situation is disclosed in the published patent application US 2009/0178033 A. It relates to a computer system to which a peripheral device having hardware is attached. The computer system has a virtualized environment which allows several operating systems, including a privileged operating system and guest operating system, to run on the computer system. During update of firmware relating to the device, the privileged operating system denies access of the guest operating systems to the device. In this way, one may avoid shutdown of the entire computer system during firmware upgrade. However, the device to which the firmware relates will not operate during the upgrade. There is thus need for improvements.